US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew calls Arun Jaitley

WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew today called his Indian counterpart Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, to congratulate him on his appointment and discussed the economic agenda of India's new government, and expressed support for its efforts to improve the Indian economy.

"Secretary Lew conveyed his desire to continue the high level, bilateral engagement that has developed in recent years between US Treasury and the Ministry of Finance of the Government of India," a Treasury Official said after the phone call between the two leaders.

"Lew congratulated Jaitley on his new position, and noted that he looks forward to working with the Minister on issues of importance to both nations and to the global economy," the official said.

"They discussed the economic agenda of India's new government, and Lew expressed his support for the government's efforts to improve India's economy," the Treasury Official said. This was the first phone call between the two leaders after Jaitley was sworn in as Union Finance Minister last week.